Travel booking with mobile devices, present and future

An interview with Gina Baillie, speaker at BTO 2012 in Florence, previews some answers to the panel on mobile travel. Below is an excerpt.

“Mobile travel” means booking via mobile? What is still missing to make it possible?

In my opinion, brands operating in the “travel” sector place too much importance on mobile transactions, losing sight of the fact that mobile access is also very important in the research and decision-making process. In the recent “Travel Consumer Report” by EyeforTravel, it was found that many consumers consult travel sites from mobile but then complete the purchase from a computer because travel operators do not have an adequately optimized website for mobility. In June 2012, EyeforTravel observed that 54% of intermediaries and 50% of suppliers stated they still did not have a mobile version of their site. So if travel brands don’t have a “mobile-friendly” site, they risk not being part of this important decision-making process.

What should the perfect ecosystem be like to facilitate booking via mobile?

Travel brands must ensure they are “mobile-friendly” throughout the entire process, from research to purchase: from the dimension of dream and inspiration (which begins well before booking the trip), to research, to booking, to the experience, and finally to sharing. Tablets, for example, are a great opportunity to inspire consumers during the ‘dream’ phase of the trip. Instead, during the research phase, information must be made clear. A mobile site should not be a copy of the regular site – the user experience needs to be rethought and simplified. In the booking phase, the mobile site may even not include the transaction phase but should always clearly provide a phone number, an email, or other contact methods. EasyJet is a great example of a brand that has well understood the need to create a clear and simple mobile interface, reducing the number of steps to reach the ticket purchase.

In the experience phase, our survey reveals that 65% of consumers declare they are willing to spend via cell phone or smartphone during the trip. Travel brands could therefore provide travelers with targeted offers sent directly to their phones, capable of generating further purchase opportunities.

Finally, after the trip. A quick follow-up via mobile can be requested to encourage the consumer to share the travel experience through social media, an action that can help create positive feedback for your brand.

What trends do you see, from your privileged position, in the mobile industry for travel?

In our recent study, we asked consumers how much they want to interact with travel brands. Many wanted to use mobile for information like boarding passes, check-in, and information on local events. 43% of Dutch and 47% of British respondents said they want to use maps on their smartphones. We anticipate a growing importance in the “location-based marketing” sector through mobile, with travel brands beginning to exploit the advantage given by the opportunity to reach the consumer equipped with a smartphone while traveling, on the move.

Google recently announced that, in 2013, the number of accesses via smartphone will surpass those from desktop. Travel brands that understand this big change will be the ones that succeed in 2013!

Pubblicato in Mobile & App